Harness



H'. v'r. REED HARNESS Nov. 29, 1960 INVENTOR. Ha rr y 7. Reed 2Sheets-Sheet 1 H. 'r.; REED uaansss Nov. 29, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 HarryT. Reed BY ATTORNEYS Filed Jan. 18, 1960 Un ed at s .Pa efi i HARNESS T.Reed, 418 E. Colorado Ave., 1 Colorado Springs, Colo.

Filed Jan. 18, 1960, Ser. No. 3,039 9 Claims. (Cl. 54-24) This inventionis directed to harness and more particularly to an adjustable animalhalter. g

In raising horses, especially thoroughbreds and family pets, it isdesirable that a colt be haltered immediately after its birth and thatthe halter be allowed to remain with the animal as it matures.

Colts grow at a surprisingly rapid rate, particularly through the firstfew months, and it has previously been difiicult to maintain proper fitin halters for the growing animals since available halters have limitedadjustability. This has required continued substitution of increasinglarger halters. This requires a number of halters and is obviously quiteexpensive. Some attempts have been made to solve the problem byproviding leather halters with adjusting straps, etc. Leather is,obviously, unsatisfactory for continuous exposure to weather.

Many of the previous leather halter arrangements utilize adjustmentshaving long leather strips which could be moved through the clips orother fastening means to thereby change certain dimensions of thehalter. These strips must necessarily be long in order to provide ahalter for both colts and horses making them unwieldy and tending totangle on pulled up halters.

According to the invention, I have an adjustable rope halter whichovercomes the foregoing difliculties and additionally is simple andrelatively inexpensive to manufacture. A halter made according to theinvention is usable on a horse, for example, from colt stage throughoutits life. Such halters are rapidly and easily adjustable, aresutficiently strong for use, yet are soft, smooth and pliable.

Briefly, my invention consists of a halter made entirely from a strong,smooth, pliable and nonelastic rope-like material (generally of a loosebraid to retain softness), preferably preshrunk nylon or the like whichwill not mildew or rot. Such material will substantially retain itsstrength during aging while resisting the natural elements and otherconditions normally destructive to harness.

The halter is formed by a novel arrangement of knotting rope strandsinto essentially a nose band neckband, browband and cheekbands. Thearrangement of knotting is inclusive of a plurality of novel, easilyadjustable knots whereby the halter may be rapidly adjusted as often asdesired, without removing it from the animal, and without long, hangstraps or rope ends.

It is therefore among the objects and advantages of my invention toprovide a strong, soft and pliable, rapidly and easily adjustablehalter.

It is another specific object to provide an adjustable halter madeentirely from a rope-like material.

Other objects and advantages will become readily obvious to thoseskilled in the art, particularly horse breeders, trainers, ranchers andthe like, from a studyof the following description with reference to theappended exemplary drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a view of one side of a halter according to my invention asworn on an animal;

, in pairs.

Fig. 2 is a view of the halter from the other side of the animal of Fig.1;

Fig. 3 is a side view showing an alternative halter arrangementaccording to the invention;

Figs. 4,5 and 6 are enlarged details of adjustable knots used in formingthe halters of Figs. 1-3.

The halter of Figs. 1 and 2 is composed of a double strand neckband 11,placed around the neck 12 of a horse and joined into a loop by knot 16.The strands extend beyond the knot 16 and are tied into a knot 13intercon-' necting a double strand noseband 14 with the neckband.

Since the neckband takes up the major force when the halter is used witha lead rope, it is preferably a heavy rope strand doubled back on itselfin a one piece construc- T tion. The ends of the rope are formed into anadjustable knot 20 in the neckband, for easy adjustment of the' size ofthe looped neckband.

of a lead rope. A double strand browband 21 is interconnected with theneckband by knots 25 and 26 and laced. through double strand cheekbands22 and 23. The cheekbands are placed over the horses head and the endsare tied to the noseband by spaced apart knots 27 and 28. and 27 and 28.The cheekband is retained as a double,

strand above forming knots 29 and 29'. The cheekbands 22 and 23 are tiedtogether by knot 24 providing a size adjustment therefor. The browbandis laced through the cheekband and is slidable thereon, being retainedin position by knots 31 and 32 and 31' and 32'. The checkbands, ofcourse, retain the noseband 14 on the horses nose 30 and the spacedapart knots 27 and 28 aid in holding the noseband straight.

Figs. 1 and 2 illustrate the ropesas placed in pairs thereby increasingthe strength of the halter as well as providing a more dressedappearance than a single strand ar-i rangement. The pairs of ropes areknotted together at intervals for holding the strands together and forim- The smaller strands tied onto the larger strands, also, hold theselarger ropes in position By suitable placement of browband knots 3-1 and32 and 3 1' and 32', the resultant loops 3-3- and 34 may provedappearance.

be positioned for optimum fit on an animal.

The halter of Fig. 3 shows a modified halter arrangement wherein thebrowband 40 and cheekband 41 are of single strand construction andloosely joined together by loop 44. In this instance, the neckband andnoseband are the same, and the single cheekbands and browbands are tiedto them as for the arrangement of Figs. 1 and 2. This is a lessexpensive arrangement while incorporating the novel combination ofadjustable knots 13 and 20 on the neckband and a single adjustable knot43 on single strand cheekband 41.

The detailed view of the cheekband knot 24 shown in Fig. 5 illustratesits adjustment. The knot is loosened and the end 2211 is made longer orshorter thereby taking up or letting out strands 22a. This decreases orincreases the length of the cheekbands for horse.

The neckband adjustment knot 20 is shown in detailedi view Fig. 6,wherein the rope ends 11a are pulled through loop lle, formed of strands11c, around it thereby forming loop 11d and subsequently back under looplle. The neckband may be adjusted by loosening the knot and taking up onstrands 11b or letting them out to thereby decrease or increase the sizeof the neckband. Due to the nature of the knot 20, it may be pulledtight to prevent. the animal rubbingagainst an .Pa ented Nov. 29, 1960fitting the halter to the and upwardly into one side of the noseband14a. The other set of strands 11g are looped around the strands 14a atloop 53 into loop 50 and then downward for the lead rope loop 15. Thestrands from loop 15 are passed through loop 50 around strands 11f and11g by a loop 51. The other end of the strands of loop 51 are passedback through loop 50, under strands 11] and back up along strands 14bwhich join strands 14a as the noseband. This is an adjustable knot forthe noseband. Slack from the noseband may be taken up by increasing thesize of the lead rope loop 15. Another adjustment for the halter isprovided by changing the length of the strands between knots 13 and 16.Thus, for colts, this distance should be relatively short and for largeranimals may be lengthened to fit the animal's head. This adjustment is,also, accomplished through the knot 13 by pulling up or slacking offstrands 11g.

In most instances, it is preferable to halter a newborn colt and adjustthe halter as growth dictates. Since the reason for the halter is tofacilitate frequent handling of the colt, the halter fit is frequentlychecked. With the arrangement of the invention, the halter does not needto be removed during adjustment, assuring a good fit on the colt.

By the foregoing exemplary arrangement of rope elements and adjustableknots described hereinbefore, I have described various manners ofpracticing my invention; but I wish it understood that I do not desireto be limited thereby, but rather by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An adjustable rope halter comprising, a neckband composed of at leasta single strand of rope doubled back on itself and joined at its ends ina first adjustable knot, a second knot in said rope spaced from thefirst knot to form a loop around the neck of an animal when in use andinclude said first knot in said loop, a third adjustable slip type knotin said rope and spaced for positioning beneath the nose and jaw of theanimal when in use, said third knot including an adjustable lead ropeloop and an adjustable noseband formed in said third knot and arrangedto pass around the nose of the animal from said third knot, a browbandtied at its ends to the neckband, and cheekbands tied to opposite sidesof said noseband, the ends of said cheekbands being tied into at leastone adjustable knot, and said cheekbands being loosely interconnectedwith the browband.

2. A halter according to claim 1 in which the rope of the neckband andnoseband is preshrunk nylon.

3. An adjustable rope halter comprising, a rope neckband forming a loopfrom a securing knot and having its ends joined in a first adjustableknot in said loop, a second loop interconnected with said securing knot,a second adjustable slip type knot formed in said second loop andarranged to be positioned beneath the nose and jaw of an animal when inuse, said second knot inclusive of a lead rope loop and noseband loop,said lead rope loop and said noseband loop being coextensive andinterconnected through said second knot whereby adjustment of one causesopposite adjustment of the other, a browband tied at its ends to theneckband, and cheekbandsknotted to opposed sides of said noseband andhaving at least one adjustable knot in one of the cheekbands, saidcheekband being loosely interconnected with said browband for limitedmovement therebetween.

4. A halter according to claim 3 in which the rope for the neckband andnoseband is a soft, loose braid, preshrunk nylonv 5. A halter accordingto claim 3 in which the neckband, noseband and lead rope loop are madeof a single length of rope.

6. An adjustable rope halter comprising, a neckband composed of a singlelength of rope doubled back on itself and having its free ends tiedthrough the looped end so as to be joined in a first adjustable knot, asecuring knot in said rope spaced from said first knot to form a firstdouble strand loop and a double strand loop for positioning around theneck of an animal when in use and including said first knot, a secondadjustable knot in said first loop arranged to be positioned beneath thenose and jaw of the animal when in use, a lead rope loop extending fromsaid second knot whereby the animal may be led, a noseband loopextending from said second knot and coextensive with said lead rope bandproviding mutual adjustment thereof, a double strand browband tied atits ends to opposed positions on said neckband, and double strandcheekbands tied to opposed sides of said noseband and having at leastone adjustable knot in one of the cheekbands, said cheekband beingloosely interconnected with said browband for limited movementtherebetween.

7. A halter according to claim 6 in which the double strands of eachside of the cheekbands are tied at spaced positions, and the doublestrand cheekbands are tied together at a point spaced from said ties.

8. The method of making an adjustable halter comprising forming a loopof sufficient size to encompass the neck of an animal by joining theends of a strip of rope material substantially larger than required toform said loop, the joining of the ends of the strip being in a firstadjustable knot, tying said loop into two loops one of which is aneckband and includes said first adjustable knot, forming a secondadjustable slip-type knot in the other loop in position to be carriedbeneath the nose and jaw of the animal on which it is mounted, a portionof said second knot looped upwardly for passing over the nose of theanimal and a portion looped downwardly into a lead rope loop, securingat least one strip of rope material to opposed sides of the neckband toform a browband, and securing at least one other strip of rope materialto opposed sides of the noseband forming cheekbands, the cheekbandsloosely engaging the browband for limited movement therebetween, and atleast one adjustable knot in the cheekbands for adjusting the sizethereof.

9. The method of making an adjustable halter comprising doubling alength of rope, passing the free ends through the looped end in anadjustable knot forming a loop substantially larger than a size toencompass the neck of an animal, tying said loop into two loops one ofwhich is a neckband and includes said adjustable knot forming a secondadjustable slip-type knot in the other loop in position to be carriedbeneath the nose and jaw of the animal on which it is mounted, a portionof the second loop extending from the second knot forming a noseband forpassing over the nose of an animal, a portion of said second loopextending from second knot forming a lead rope loop, said noseband andlead rope loop being coextensive through said knot for mutualadjustment, securing at least one strip of rope material to opposedsides of the neckband to form a browband, and securing at least onelength of rope to opposed sides of the noseband forming cheekbands, thecheekbands loosely engaging the browband for limited movementtherebetween, and at least one adjustable knot in the cheekbands foradjusting the size thereof.

Ostberg June 6, 1882 Smouse Apr. 3, 1906

